How to Use Intensive Pronouns

Intensive pronouns are part of a diverse group of pronoun types. We use many pronouns similarly, but we use intensive pronouns in specific ways. Here is how to correctly introduce intensive pronouns into your writing.

Instructions

1. Make the pronoun parts agree. Intensive pronouns have two parts, an identifier, such as "him," "her," "our" or "my," followed by "self" or "selves." Keep singulars with singulars (don't use "ourself") and never use "selfs."

2. Utilize an indicative, not a possessive pronoun, for the first part of an intensive pronoun. For example, it is "himself" or "herself," not "hisself."

3. Use intensive pronouns right after the noun they qualify. An intensive pronoun is always referring to a noun, and it comes right after the noun: "He himself made the presentation." If it comes later in the sentence, we call it a reflexive pronoun.

4. Make use of intensive pronouns just a few times in a short piece of writing. If you say "I myself don't agree with you," that's an example of a good intensive pronoun. But if you then say "He himself says..." that's not a good use of the pronoun. The "myself" places an emphasis on the speaker. Look for ways to use intensive pronouns in natural sounding ways for good emphasis in your writing.

5. Look for good examples of intensive pronouns in old writing. The popular phrase "To thine own self be true" is a kind of intensive pronoun structure. The older English writers used intensive pronouns to make more formal statements. We don't use them as liberally today because they tend to be stilted and wordy.